The fall and rise of Sheila Carter

The noose tightened more than it ever had around Sheila Carter's neck as Thomas suspected her of shooting Steffy, who came to in her hospital bed. But Sheila's attempt to end it all turned into a Hail Mary pass, which saw Taylor championing Sheila as her savior! Fall into spring with Two Scoops' Mike!

Has your week been bold and beautiful? Did you run into everybody except the one person you needed to run into? Did you have more visitors than a 1990s web site? Did you almost find out what an autumn leaf feels like? These and more situations faced the Forrester-Logan-Spencer-Buckingham clan this week!

It ain't no April Fool's, Scoopers! Finn, from what we're being told, anyway, is dead, and the continued twists we've been promised are actually happening. Of course, we know Sheila's days are numbered, as she's essentially unredeemable for sure this time, but what a ride, as Kimberlin Brown rocks our soapy worlds! Has Sheila now earned a lifeline because she was a lifeline to Taylor? Let's Scoop about it!

You gotta love how cliffhangers are built out of one character asking another an operative question, only to have the following scene pick up in a completely different location with said former character saying to the latter, "You never answered my question." That's how it was as Thomas followed Sheila to another part of the hospital and again entreated her to say whether or not she'd had anything to do with shooting Steffy and Finn.

It's kind of interesting that Thomas seems to have picked up on the truth based on his interactions with her about hiding the secret of Brooke's champagne substitution, but what's more interesting to me is that Thomas doesn't realize he shouldn't be antagonizing Sheila. After all, he was only a baby when Sheila threatened to kill him because his grandmother Stephanie was spending time with Sheila's then-husband James.

Thomas remarked that the police had asked him if anyone had hated Steffy enough to shoot her. Hey, turnabout is fair play, right? After all, Steffy plugged Sheila in the arm back in 2017. But Sheila did her best to mask her culpability. She wanted to know what kind of a monster it would make her to shoot her own son. Before Thomas could probe any further, Taylor walked in and stopped the interrogation.

We are being asked to remember that Taylor is a world-renowned psychiatrist yet forget that Taylor went psychotic herself, shot Bill in the back, and left him for dead. Okay, let's say for a moment we can actually accomplish that Herculean suspension of disbelief. Wouldn't even a first-year shrink see that there's more to Sheila's frame of mind than "just" losing her son?

Taylor should have been able to pick up on Sheila's hints and extreme guilt. But Taylor could only see that Sheila was falling apart under the weight of her grief after Thomas' grilling and chased after her one-time assailant. One thing that Taylor is right about is that we usually don't see Sheila in pain. It's true. Sheila's anguish, though self-inflicted, has been palpable under Kimberlin Brown's mastery.

Sheila went up to the roof of CBS Studios...er, I mean the hospital, and cried out to Finn that she was coming to join him. "It's the big one, Elizabeth!" Sorry, couldn't help the Sanford and Son reference. It honestly wasn't funny; it was very dramatic. But it's not the first time Sheila readied to throw herself off a building. She actually succeeded in 1997 when she found out James had initially married her as a ruse.

Oh, well. It had been a quarter century in real time since Sheila took the Nestea Plunge, so I guess we can pull that one out of the bag again. Taylor found Sheila on the literal edge and tried her best to talk Sheila down. Am I the only one who got a full circle vibe from that? It was very much like in 2002, when Taylor worked to convince Sheila to put down a gun and got a bullet in the heart for her efforts.

"It's all my fault," Sheila wailed. Again, even in this moment of desperation, Taylor maintained her newly developed blind spot regarding Sheila and couldn't tell a confession was happening right in front of her. "All I wanted was to show Finn how much I've changed," Sheila went on. Yo, hold the phone, Brenda. (One of Sheila's Y&R aliases.) Changed? Did you really just say that?

See, this has been the problem all along, not just with this return, but every Sheila return this century/millennium. I know I say this all the time, but the reason Sheila was so awesome on B&B from 1992 to 1998 was because she was trying so hard to be good and just couldn't pull it off. Before she poisoned Stephanie in '96, she actually asked herself if she really wanted to go there!

But ever since she returned with a rapidly aged Mary/Erica in 2002, Sheila has been written like a cartoon. There's no nuance. She's just crazy. Kimberlin Brown does her best to give Sheila some levels, but they're not in the writing. And now Sheila's really gone too far. She may have shot Taylor, and even Finn, by accident, but she shot Steffy on purpose. Just like grandma Stephanie.

Anyway, Taylor made a little headway telling Sheila that they both needed to be there for their grandson, the misnamed Hayes. But before Sheila could recover from being told she had grown (on what behavior did you make that analysis, Taylor?), Taylor exhorted Sheila to live so they could find the "bastard" who did "this terrible thing" to Steffy and Finn.

Sheila knew that the first thing Steffy would do upon awakening would be to rat her out, and when Taylor tried to rally Sheila by saying the Finnegans' attacker needed to be brought to justice, Sheila interpreted that to mean the sidewalk below was justice, and it was her head that needed to be brought to it. As Sheila tried to jump, Taylor grabbed her...and went over the edge herself!

Hey, Taylor, too bad you're not with Ridge or Rick right now -- you could compare notes with both, since they each took a turn hanging from the edge of Forrester Creations! Sheila didn't hesitate, though. She strained but triumphed in helping Taylor scramble back up to safety. "You saved my life!" Taylor said repeatedly. Like Tom Jones, it's not unusual. Sheila saved Lauren from being buried in a bomb shelter collapse on Y&R in 2006.

I have to say, I really liked the following scene with Kimberlin and Krista Allen. They provided an unexpected warmth between Sheila and Taylor, respectively. Taylor declared that Sheila had earned a place in their family by not letting Taylor fall to her death. Did any of you feel, by doing so, that Sheila kind of made up for accidentally shooting Taylor two decades ago?

With Steffy lying unconscious in a hospital bed, family members galore visited to work on their Emmy reels...er, I mean show their support. And it's not that the performances weren't wonderful. It's just one of the more emotionally manipulative moments of soaps, watching folks cry over people hovering between life and death. Matthew Atkinson's tearful pleas to his sister got me right in the feels!

Annika Noelle and Thorsten Kaye did some nice work, as well. Hope reminded her stepsister/rival of their pledge to unite for the sake of their blended family, which had faltered in recent months over Steffy's anti-Brooke campaign. And Ridge actually prayed! That's not something you see the ex-Speedo King do every day. Ridge told the Big Kahuna that he'd had his bags packed since Phoebe died and offered himself up in place of Steffy!

But then -- and we have to address this -- there's Liam. It's only natural that the potential loss of a multiple ex-wife and the mother of his child would rock him to his core, but there's a lot of nervousness in the soapverse that it's all heading toward another Liam/Steffy reunion, especially with Finn gone. Like most of you, I do not need to see that happen again. Liam's with Hope; let's just leave it that way.

I know there were fans who balked when Brooke showed up to provide succor, but I thought it was touching, the way Brooke and Taylor connected over Steffy's plight. And Brooke correctly reminded Ridge that they're still married, vowing to be there for him as his daughter fights for her life. Gee, doesn't that whole Bridge/Tridge New Year's Eve debacle seem a million welcome miles away now?

Still, that's gonna have to get dealt with eventually. It will come out that Sheila set Brooke up, and then Ridge will have to decide how much of Brooke kissing Deacon was from the booze and how much was because Deacon is just so damn hot. I predict that the Bridge will be rebuilt. Maybe, like the way Steffy fell for Liam because he saved her from drowning, Taylor will fall for Deacon because he saved Steffy. But more on Deacon in a bit.

As with the finest fabric distributors in L.A., Ridge must have the hook-up with a different set up higher-ups, because his heavenly beseeching worked. Steffy woke up! Ridge called for a nurse, who then went to find Bridget. Yet Bridget had to tell Steffy's crowd of worried well-wishers that Steffy's eyes had opened. The nurse seriously ran past everyone without immediately informing them that Steffy had taken a positive turn?

Bridget warned Steffy's family not to bring up anything that would upset her. Fine, but what were they supposed to do if Steffy asked about Finn? Tell her he was in the waiting room, looking at TikTok videos? Steffy was super out of it, but not so much that she didn't spy her monster-in-law and utter "She...la" in response. (That's also the name of a '90s Canadian rock song I've recently gotten into, but I digress.)

Ridge was excited that Steffy was awake and speaking -- could she remember who had left her bleeding in an alley? Sheila risked giving herself away by suggesting it might be too stressful for Steffy to describe the experience at that point; obviously, Sheila was trying to shut Steffy up. (Nice touch, though, Sheila citing herself as a trained nurse...albeit one who chose to let her son die rather than help him and shot Steffy instead of letting her call the paramedics. So much for the Hippocratic Oath!)

I know there was supposed to be a great amount of suspense in the moment, teasing us with the idea that Steffy might recall everything and put Sheila down for good. But they dragged it out too far. I think it was seriously about five screen minutes just for Steffy to mutter that she wanted some water. As a bait-and-switch, it worked; it didn't have to take that long, though.

Well, if Sheila had played the Lotto that day, all her numbers would have come up, because she got lucky as hell -- Steffy couldn't remember a thing about ending up on a trash heap at Il Giardino. (Ooh, those Yelp reviews aren't gonna be kind. "Great cacio e pepe but the dead bodies in the alley ruined the ambience.") Another parallel: it's like when Sheila's mother, Molly, had a stroke on Y&R and couldn't tattle that Sheila had stolen Lauren's baby.

Sheila again came close to tipping her hand when she asked if there was a chance that Steffy might never remember what was done to her. It was suggested that Steffy might be repressing the traumatic memories. What I want to know is, why did no one, even Ridge, kick Sheila out of the room? Outside of being the mother of Steffy's husband, Sheila had no call to be there, and her very presence should have been a red flag.

I guess the question now is, will Sheila do something to make sure that Steffy never lives to tell her tale? Smother Steffy with a pillow? Squirt Lime-A-Way into her I.V.? Or -- and I wish I had thought of this, but someone broached it online -- will Sheila pump Steffy full of opioids? It was mentioned more than once that Steffy had been addicted to the drugs, which is great continuity but also perhaps foreshadowing.

Ridge finally popped off once he and Taylor got Sheila into the hallway. Their hearts went out to Sheila, Ridge seemed to say genuinely, and they hoped Sheila would find peace surrounding Finn's death, but it was time for Sheila to vamoose. But whoa, horsie! Taylor put the kibosh on her cowboy by, with Sheila's tacit permission, explaining to Ridge how Sheila had kept Taylor from dropping off the hospital roof!

"You were going to end your life?" Ridge asked, appearing to register shock, and even dismay. But it's not like Ridge hasn't watched Sheila trying to take herself out before -- in 1995, Sheila poisoned herself after a failed attempt to shoot Ridge, his family, James Warwick, and Lauren Fenmore. It was weird, though, hearing Taylor describe the events as if they'd happened days prior when it had only been a couple of hours, if that.

Aren't Taylor's arms sore from supporting her full weight while Sheila tried to pull her up? Shouldn't Taylor ask for a quick exam to make sure she didn't sustain damage? And what was the point of Taylor telling Sheila that they would keep their mutual lifesaving between them if Taylor was just going to blab a few episodes later, anyway? However, Ridge did seem to soften.

Uh-oh. Is Sheila now going to be declared a hero while everyone involved remains ignorant of her putting Finn in a body bag and Steffy in a hospital room? I wonder how that's going to play when Steffy has total recall? "I see your saving my mom and raise you killing my husband." But I'll take watching this dark, twisted saga over three months of Brooke hand-wringing over one kiss any day.

A few loose ends I want to mention. What were Zende and Paris, with her slammin' new braids, doing there? And doing there together? Last time we saw Paris, she had told Carter that she loved him despite her mother demanding that Paris accept a proposal from Zende, should Zende offer one. Paris acted like Zende was last year's loafers. So, what was up with their being joined at the hip here?

I will give points to whoever wrote it into the script that Paris once lived with Finn and Steffy, which would certainly justify Paris' distress over Finn being killed. But I could have smacked Zende when he assumed Liam was hit especially hard by Steffy's shooting...this when Steffy watched Liam leave later. Please, please, please, no more Steam. Leffy/Lope simply has no more gas in it. Just no.

Li's appearance last week brought up a lot of questions, too. Many said that Li was more angry than bereaved and that the way she talked about Finn was an indication that maybe Finn wasn't dead, after all. Finn wouldn't be the first B&B denizen to turn up alive after a dramatic death. Just ask Taylor (twice). Or Felicia. Or Sheila herself. Mind you, Lauren Fenmore still doesn't know her nemesis breathes after five years.

The most glaring Finnegan absence, of course, was Jack. We haven't seen him since Finn booted him out of his life for lying about being his biological father. Did Finn really die without that major falling-out being resolved? Wouldn't Jack be overcome with remorse that Finn died hating him? Maybe Ted King wasn't available, but Li didn't even mention Jack. They are a beat that is begging to be played.

Speaking of which...Bridget! I hope to hell she's not here simply to nurse Steffy back to health and then slink away to New York again. It's weird enough watching Sheila interact with Bridget, since Bridget was the subject of the paternity test that Sheila tampered with back in the day. And did anybody "eww" when Bridget hugged Ridge? B&B only started its propensity toward quasi-incest with Ridget, after all.

What the show really needs to do is put Bridget in Deacon's orbit. It doesn't have to be for long. But for all this talk since Deacon returned about Breacon's illicit affair, we can't have Bridget in town and not delve into Bridget's one-time marriage to Freaky Deaky. I know it wasn't Ashley Jones's Bridget who went through that turmoil with Deacon, it was Jennifer Finnegan's. But...

Well, hey, Tridge's interaction is working with two completely different actors, even if both Ridge and Taylor drank from the fountain of youth in the recasting. Bridget seems to not hold any grudges against Hope, the product of her husband's cheating, but there's a deep cavern of Bridget/Hope material to be mined, and if we don't explore some Bridget/Deacon stuff once Steffy is out of danger, it will be B&B's biggest missed opportunity in years...and they've missed a lot of 'em!

Finally, let's not forget that Diane Jenkins just turned up alive on Y&R. Remember when Bill bribed a warden to bust Deacon out of jail in 2012 so Deacon could ruin Hope's Italian wedding to Liam? Deacon was serving time then for obstructing justice in Diane's death. Does that mean he served time it wasn't just for him to serve?

Sounds to me like it's time for Deacon to make a trip to Genoa City -- or, since Diane has been hanging out in L.A., for Diane to make a B&B appearance and clear this stuff up. Maybe Diane can run into Sheila and A) conspire with her or B) go back to Wisconsin and let Lauren know that Sheila is alive. Because Sheila's resurrection with her own face is one massive retcon that still needs to be explained to my satisfaction!

Where are your heads at, Scoopers? Are you enjoying this series of "shock twists" we were promised? Do you think Sheila is done as a character? Would you want to see Liam fill the void in Steffy's life? Is Taylor missing all the signals Sheila is broadcasting? Could Finn be alive somewhere? And do you think Bridget's current run is screaming for some kind of exchange with Deacon? Fall into the the Comments section below or the Soap Central message boards, or simply click here to submit feedback. Your comments could be in a future column! Like these!

"Is this the big overpromised twist that is supposed to change the show forever? Doesn't seem like it - Finn hasn't been around long enough that his death would change the course of the show. While Finn has been a good distraction for Steffy (away from Liam), the viewers haven't had enough time to invest that much into Finn's character. I like Finn and hope he sticks around, but just not that big if he leaves the show at this point IMO. Hoping this is just the tease of something bigger to come. Would be nice if Ridge came to Steffy's rescue and killed Sheila and is sent off to jail for awhile to give [Thorsten] Kaye the break he's looking for - that would be something or the death of a legacy character - Finn is not that." -- Andrew

"B&B went full telenovela with the Steffy-Finn-Sheila routine. Why, oh, why would Steffy confront a woman who she KNOWS shoots first and repents later in a back alley? Secondly, Finn is shot, so Steffy decides it's a good time for a long speech instead of calling 911, like right away, as in the second Finn hit the garbage bags. No, we have to let Steffy emote, Sheila look shocked. The man is bleeding out, and Steffy is yammering at him. I've seen this scenario multiple times on Telemundo, the writers must have also. Hope Finn is alive, if not, hope Sheila puts Steffy out of her misery. No more mini Ridge bully demanding people do what she wants. Time to move on!" -- Rhonda

For the first time in a long time, I'm super stoked to see what happens next, so keep watching, be alert, and most of all, be bold. And, no matter where in the world you are, democracy and freedom are always beautiful.AMJ

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